A review by balfies
Jewels: A Secret History by Victoria Finlay

adventurous dark informative mysterious medium-paced

4.75

Finlay has a really compelling way of telling stories about history and beauty, and gets herself into insane situations quite by chance. Learned about
Sri Lankan sapphires, how jet became the jewel of mourning for the Victorians, British pearls and techniques of pearling, heists committed by Californian surfers, the secretive ruby mines of Myanmar, the horrors of the amber trade, and how a cat skeleton that opalised helped develop synthetic opals.
10/10.
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